"ILO has eight key conventions and Indonesia is the first country in Asia and the Pacific to ratify all of them," ILO Director General Juan Somavia said at a special meeting of the 100th ILO Conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
The eight conventions are Convention No. 87 on the Freedom of Assembly, Convention No. 89 on the Abolition of Forced Labour, Convention No. 100 on Equal Remuneration for Male and Female Employees, Convention No. 101 on Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and Convention No. 182 on the Worst Form of Child Labour.
Somavia also described the presence of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the 100th ILO conference as a new history. "It is the first time for an Indonesian president to attend ILO conference," he said.
Earlier, ILO Director for Indonesia Peter van Rooij said ILO office in Indonesia was the largest ILO office in the world.
He said ILO had had office in Indonesia for 31 years and Indonesia had become an ILO member for 60 years.
President Yudhoyono who is one of the five heads of state/government to deliver speeches at the conference called for protection of migrant Indonesian workers employed abroad.
He also gave the assurance that the government`s manpower policies would always be directed towards improving workers` welfare.
He said invitation to address the 100th ILO conference was the world community`s appreciation of Indonesia`s success in managing labour-related problems during the height of 2008 global crisis so that no massive lay-offs occurred in the country. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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